Options for selling Android apps

[J. Landman Gay]

On 5/12/12 7:33 PM, Richard Miller wrote:
> Through my investigating online, it seems to be necessary to build in
> some type of anti-piracy scheme into Android apps... much the same as
> would be done for a desktop app.

The Google Play Store offers something but I didn't bother. I'm not sure 
how a developer would implement it on their own. I haven't seen anyone 
do that.

>
> Also of concern is the issue of app updates. I found this about updates:
>
> "You just /upload/ a new apk file, which should have a higher version
> code and a higher version number than the previous apk."
>
> It seems that I need to write LC code into my app to check (each time it
> starts up) if an updated version is available. If there is, I simply
> alert the user to load the new version, which... as long as it is signed
> with the same private key and uses the same package name... will simply
> replace the outdated version.

It's much easier than that. Each time you build an update, increase the 
version code in the standalone settings by at least one. That's all you 
need to do. You should also increase the version number for reference, 
though that's not the critical part for updates. When you upload the new 
build, the Android stores (both Google and Amazon) see that the code 
number has changed and will notify everyone who has it installed that 
there's an update. You don't have to do anything, it's all automatic.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com